Baby powder. Baby nail clippers. Support socks. Socks+mittens pack. Alcohol swabs. Bottle brushes. Microwavable sterilizing bags. We bought these yesterday.
My Brest Friend nursing pillow. Free Udder Covers nursing shawl. Bottle sanitizer. Diaper Genie II Elite refills. These just arrived.
Medela pumping, storing, and feeding bottles. Bouncer so Josh can pee. Mirror for the backseat. These are on their way.
I accomplished a fair amount on Sunday night after we got home from Charlotte. This was odd since I'd been so sleepy, and we'd been driving for two hours. But I unpacked, sorted clothes by size, put away most of the presents, and stacked the gift bags. We're set for a thousand baby showers now. Most likely, though, everyone will just get their Christmas presents in baby boy bags.
On Wednesday night, I got a weird pop of energy. Instead of the usual awkward crawl into bed after work, I got moving. I did more newborn laundry, added items to the diaper bag (and Josh put it right back in the trunk), and cleaned our room, which had still had several bags and mounds of last-minute moving messes.
The nesting instinct does seem to be kicking in. I've been working on baby laundry, sanitizing pumping and feeding supplies, and cleaning up leftover moving messes in the other rooms of the house (I still have a lot to do). I've also been pushing Josh to take care of various car issues, and we're part way through that. Yesterday, we made a huge grocery trip. Because of a flat tire, he hadn't been able to shop this week, so we were running out of everything. I also think I'll be looking at each grocery trip as our last. I got a few baby items but mostly thought, "What would we need if we didn't leave the house for two weeks?" We have plenty of toilet paper, toothpaste, PopTarts, Ramen, and muffin mix--funny essentials. I had two pretty big BH contractions while we were shopping. I was able to walk through them, just more slowly.
I also made a "Going Home Grocery List" and put it in Josh's wallet. I told Josh this was in case someone offered to go shopping for us as we left the hospital. I can just see someone asking what we need and my staring blankly.
"Do people actually do that?"
"I think so...or they might bring meals."
"Oh."
"Well, it happens for people who have
people, I think."
We have no one local. In town, we only know our property manager. Still, the list is nice to think about as it has roast beef, turkey, and provolone on it. Those first six weeks will have many miseries and deprivations, but missing deli sandwiches will not be among them.
The swelling is astounding. My hands hurt and feel stiff often. Some nights, I have difficulty grasping a doorknob. And a few days ago, we looked down, and I had no ankles. We couldn't even
find the bones. I bought some support socks. I don't know if they've done anything, but I want to say they have since they were $9 for two pairs.
My appointment on Thursday was the most eventful and most unpleasant so far. We arrived an hour early, as soon as the office opened, which usually ensures that we get out in decent time. Not so! We were there for three and a half hours. A nurse took blood from my arm. Nurses usually have trouble finding my veins, but with a 50% blood volume increase, I didn't expect problems. She switched to my right arm and still had to move the needle around. It
hurt. And then, she forgot to get a sample to check my hemoglobin, so I had to have a finger stick as well. She and the other nurse apologized, and I said, "Well, I've got to get used to it." One the nurses was the same one who, about 31 weeks ago, confirmed my pregnancy.
We waited, waited, waited. We heard Oliver's heartbeat, and I saw him kick the little microphone so hard that it bounced. The nurse said, "Does he always move this much?"
We waited, waited, waited. The time when I had to leave for work to get there in time passed. I might have left, but the state requires tests at this point. I started feeling nauseous, dizzy, and hot before the nurse practitioner came in. After significant belly smashing (which did confirm that Baby O is still head down), I had the rest of my exam. She squeezed my legs and feet in amazement. Yep, the swelling was incredible. My legs were red-purple. She said, "Do you always perspire like this?" I knew I was sweating, but I didn't know what she meant until I got up later, and Josh showed me that all the paper under me had disintegrated, and sweating was running down my legs. What in the world? Anyway, Josh had watched my face during the exam because, he said, he needs to start getting used to seeing me in pain. And I was in pain. Gracious.
In the NP's office (after Josh helped free me of the dissolving paper and get dressed), I listened to advice about when to go to the hospital. I still feel like I won't know since I've been having BH contractions that are long and frequent, and so few women actually break their water. I asked if I were showing any change yet, and she said no.
I left the office and arrived at work an hour late, feeling discouraged and pitiful. I hadn't expected all that to hurt so much, and that got me worried--aren't I supposed to be gearing up? And I'd thought that with all those contractions, I might have made
a little progress. My boss was very nice about my lateness, but I had to deal with a student issue right away (which had escalated unnecessarily between when I left my office and when I returned to it), and then I forgot and was late to a meeting...ugh. It was just a bummer day.
But last night, Josh and I sang "Your Personal Penguin" to Oliver (we've been listening to it every night), and he rolled and squirmed. This morning, Josh made muffins and practiced using the sanitizer. I hope to get a lot ready this weekend, including setting up the bassinet in our room (giving the cats a chance to get used to it and us a chance to figure out how to keep them out of it) and cleaning up Oliver's room. I'll take frustration, discouragement, prodding, and pain if I can just keep this little boy we made...preferably in four weeks or less time.
